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NEW PARENTS GUIDE to Hiring a Childcare Provider
NEW YORK Congratulations on becoming a parent!
At Hand in Hand, we’ve learned it’s never too early to consider childcare options. That’s why we created this New Parents Guide to Hiring a Childcare Provider—with a focus on nannies and babysitters—to help you make decisions and do the right thing for your family, and in your home.
We’ll take you through the different options available to you and share our Fair Care principles for hiring a childcare provider in your home or as part of an increasingly popular alternative, nanny shares.
Finally, if you’re a childcare provider who has also become a new parent, we have a page at the back just for you.
Hand in Hand is a national network of parents and families who employ nannies, housecleaners and home attendants. We came together to work for dignified and respectful working conditions in the home because our experience taught us this benefitted the employer and worker alike.
Have questions about Hand in Hand? Email [email protected] or visit our website: domesticemployers. org. You can sign-up for a webinar, request a workshop in your community, or get more involved in making quality care and quality care jobs a reality in New York State, by joining our NYC chapter. Email [email protected] to sign-up and get involved.
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network www.domesticemployers.org [email protected] STEP 1 Decision-making
There are many different ways to find childcare. While this packet is mainly for people hiring a full or part-time babysitter or nanny, many of these resources can apply to any form of childcare you choose.
What are my childcare options in New York City?
Subsidized You may be eligible for city-funded day care http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/html/child_care/ child_care_eligibility.shtml
Day Care Check out EarlyLearn NYC (private) http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/living/ childcare-find.shtml
Hire a Nanny • Use a matching site like Care.com or Babysitter or Sittercity.com • Try a “nanny share” i.e. one nanny cares for two or more children from different families • Referrals from friends • Parent listserves • Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative http://beyondcare.coop
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network www.domesticemployers.org [email protected] STEP 2 Choosing Fair Care
If you decide to hire someone in your home to clean, cook, assist, or care for members of the household, you are a domestic employer. This means your home is the workplace of a domestic worker.
A domestic worker is someone who works in another person’s home caring for children, supporting seniors or people with disabilities, or cleaning and/or cooking.
Hand in Hand supports families to create caring homes and fair workplaces, by following three simple practices:
FAIR PAY CLEAR PAID TIME OFF EXPECTATIONS
If you become a domestic employer, make your home a workplace you can be proud of.
Take the Fair Care Pledge http://faircarepledge.com and we’ll help you do the right thing in your home.
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network www.domesticemployers.org [email protected] STEP 3 Putting Fair Care into Practice
FAIR PAY
By paying a fair wage, plus overtime, you are ensuring that your employee has what she needs to sustain herself and her family. This contributes to a positive, long-lasting relationship and healthy home.
For many, it can be a challenge to align what’s fair with what we feel we can afford, but by offering the worker you employ the highest wage you can—and showing her how much you value her work— you are reinvesting in your own household and doing all that you can to ensure the best support for yourself, your home, and your family.
Here are some Fair Pay tips:
• Pay on time and for all hours worked. • When calculating wages, consider the cost of living and calculate what a living wage might look like. We recommend this calculator: http://livingwage.mit.edu • Increase a wage when responsibilities increase, i.e if you have a second child or if you add housecleaning to the job. • Remember a nanny share is more work for the nanny! Consider paying at least $3-5 more per child in a share arrangement, i.e. $18/hour for one child becomes $21-23/ hour for two. • Prepare to pay overtime when your employee works over 40 hours/week or over 8 hours/day. Overtime = 1.5 x the hourly wage.
Most importantly, be honest with yourself and your family. If being a fair employer sounds unaffordable to you, consider other options such as daycare or group shares.
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network www.domesticemployers.org [email protected] STEP 3 Putting Fair Care into Practice
CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
Creating clear expectations, through open and respectful communication, is the foundation for the relationship between you and the worker you employ, providing clarity on both sides for daily tasks.
Here are some important ways to create clear expectations in your home: • It all starts in the hiring process. A relaxed interview that creates space for two-way conversation allows a prospective employee’s personality and experience to shine through. • A mutually-agreed-upon written work agreement or contract helps ensure everyone is on the same page about the job duties, benefits, and needs. • Regular check-ins provide everyone with the opportunity to share what’s been going well and areas that might need improvement. • Occasional reminders that you welcome a worker’s questions and want to know about their concerns means that you can solve most issues as they arise. • Make sure to respect the worker in your home: greet her in the morning, return home on time, ask about her family, and thank her regularly.
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network www.domesticemployers.org [email protected] STEP 3 Putting Fair Care into Practice
PAID TIME OFF
Paid time off—including medical and sick leave—will ensure that your employee is rested and healthy and ready to do her job well.
Here are the Fair Care guiding principles around offering paid time off: • Provide full-time employees with at least two weeks of paid vacation and five paid sick days per year. • Provide part-time employees sick days and paid vacation: one hour for every thirty hours worked. • Any unused vacation should be paid out as additional pay when the worker leaves the job. • Provide the standard eight paid government holidays or agreed upon holidays of the employee’s choice. • Try to provide at least one month of paid family or medical leave, with guaranteed employment upon return.
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network www.domesticemployers.org [email protected] Are you a domestic worker who is a new parent?
Care providers are, of course, parents If you haven’t already done so, consider themselves. If you need support asking your employer to sign the Fair balancing your new family with your Care Pledge, provide you with paid time work, there are an array of domestic off and family medical leave to spend worker and community organizations time with your family. that may provide support. If you are looking for new employment, NDWA consider joining a worker cooperative. [email protected] New York has a number of care www.domesticworkers.org cooperatives including: 646-780-7814 ENGLISH & 646-780-7809 ESPAÑOL Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative Adhikaar http://beyondcare.coop Serving the Nepali community, Carroll Gardens Association including domestic workers, www.carrollgardensassociation.com nail salon workers, and more. Cooperative Home Email at [email protected] or Care Associates call (718) 937-1117. http://www.chcany.org NICE Damayan Cleaning Cooperative New Immigrant Community https://www.facebook.com/ Empowerment. Serving Latinx damayanmigrantworkers/ community in Queens www.nynice.org Golden Steps 718-205-8796 Eldercare Cooperative http://goldensteps.coop Damayan MIgrant Workers Association Maharlika Cleaning Cooperative Serving the Filipino community, https://maharlikacleaning.coop with a focus on care workers. We Can Do It Email [email protected] Housecleaning Cooperative or call (212) 564 6057. http://www.wecandoit.coop National Employment Law Project (NELP) Provide legal support to domestic workers. Email [email protected] or call (212) 285-3025.